Wardrobe suitcase



July 2, 1940. E. D. HALLMAN 2,206,564

WARDROBE SUITCASE Filed Aug. 19, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l I N VE N T O R ELDOHDHALLMAN ATTORNEY July 2, 1940.

E. D. HALLMAN WARDROBE SUITCASE Filed Aug. 19', 19:57

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR ELDON-DJ-IALUVIAN ATTORNEY July 2, 1940. E; D. HALLMAN 2,206,564

WARDROBE SUITCAS E Filed Aug. 19, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VE N TO B 5 ELDONDHALLMAN ATTORNEY H 5 BY Patented July 2, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application August 19, 1937, Serial No. 159,943 In Canada February 27, 1937 1 Claim.

neatly packed to lie entirely within a relatively.

small wardrobe compartment.

In carrying cases of the kind to which this invention relates the garments are initially placed in the wardrobe compartment with their shoulder portions engaged with suitable garment hangers removably mounted adjacent the top wall of the compartment and their lower portions draped over a garment folding device which is pivotally mounted adjacent the bottom wall of the compartment to swing into and out of the same. The garment folding device generally comprises a folding bar carried between the outer ends of a pair of swinging arms having their inner ends pivotally connected to the bottom wall of the wardrobe compartment. After the lower portions of the garments have been draped over this folding device a flap or follower is secured in place across the lower portion of the wardrobe compartment to hold the garments against the back wall of said compartment and to provide.

a creasing member around which the lower portions of the garments are folded inwardly when the garment folding device is swung to its garment folding position.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide, in a carrying case of this type, an improved form of garment folding device comprising a main section and an auxiliary section, the latter being hinged or pivoted to the main section so that it may be moved relatively thereto to produce an extra fold in garments which are too long to be completely folded by the use of the main section alone.

Proceeding now to a more detailed description reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a carrying case equipped with garment hanging and folding means provided in accordance with this invention. In this view the garment hanging or folding means are shown in the positions which they occupy prior to use.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the manner in which the main and auxiliary folding devices are utilized to form an extra fold in garments of exceptional length.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View through the carrying case showing the manner in which the sections of the folding devices are initially arranged to receive the lower portions of the garments thereon. This view also shows the manner in which garments of different lengths are initially draped over the two sections of the folding device so that the auxiliary section may be manipulated to produce anextra fold in the longer garment.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the position occupied by the auxiliary section of the folding device after it has been manipulated to produce an extra fold i a garment of exceptional length.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figs. 3 and 4 but showing the manner in which the two sections of the folding device are swung into the wardrobe compartment to complete the folding of the garments engaged therewith.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the carrying case with the parts arranged as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a detailed view showing the manner in which the garment hangers are mounted in the upper portion of the wardrobe compartment.

The carrying case shown in these drawings comprises a body section 5 and a cover or wardrobe section 6. These two sections are usu: ally hinged together as indicated at 1.

When disposed in a vertical position the cover or wardrobe section 6 affords a wardrobe compartment 8 bounded by the back wall 9, side walls It, top wall H, and bottom wall H. A plurality of garment hangers M are removably mounted in the upper portion of the compartment 8. Each hanger is equipped with a T-shaped suspension member I 5 having its stem portion [5a pivoted to the central portion of the hanger as indicated at I6, (see Fig. '7). The head I! of each suspension member is slidably fitted in a sup-' porting casing l8 fastened to the underside of the wall I I, the bottom of said casing being provided with a slot l9 accommodating the stem portions of the suspension members. At the end adjacent the open side of the compartment 8 the bottom wall of casing I8 is provided with reversely bent extensions 20 which serve as stop lugs for retaining the suspension members l5 within the casing. Suflicient clearance is reserved between the stop lugs 20 and the top of the casing l8 to permit the suspension members to be removed from the casing by turning the hangers to an angular position in which the T- heads I! are disposed close to and parallel with the top wall of the casing. When in this position the T-heads of the suspension members may be withdrawn from the casing through the passage reserved between the top wall of thecasing and the stop lugs.

Thebottom wall l2 of the wardrobe compartment 8 is provided with a pair of brackets 22 to which are pivoted the inner ends of a pair. of swinging side bars 23. The bars 23 are connected at their outer ends by a folding bar which is preferably of cylindrical cross section. A U- shaped cross bar 25 is also connected between the side bars 23 at a point intermediate the hinge connections 22 and the folding bar 24. The side bars 23, together with the cross bars 24 and 25, constitute the main section of my improved folding device. The auxiliary section of this folding device comprises a pair of side bars 21 fixed at one end to a cylindrical cross bar 28 having its ends rotatably mounted in suitable openings provided in the side bars 23 of the main section. As here shown the cylindrical cross bar 28 of the auxiliary section is located substantially midway between the cross bars 24 and 25 of the main section. The free ends of the side bars 21 are connected by a cross bar 2% which lies outside the cross bar 24 when the two sections of the folding device are arranged as shown in Fig. 3.

When the carrying case described herein is not in use the main andauxiliary sections of the folding device occupy the position shown in Fig. 1. In this connection it will be noted that the side bars 27 of the auxiliary section are arranged so that the cross bar 29 of this section lies between the cross bar 25 and hinge connections 22 of the main section. When the folding device is to be used it is swung out of the wardrobe compartment B so that the side bars 21 of the auxiliary section may be swung from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 3. In this latter position it will be noted that the side bars 21 rest on the folding bar 24 of the main section and that the auxiliary folding bar 29 lies outside the main folding bar 24. The dotted lines in Fig. 3 indicate a horizontal position in which the two sections of the folding device are preferably disposed during the initial operation of hanging the garments in the Wardrobe compartment 8.

In Fig. 3 I have shown two garments 3D and 31 of unequal length having their shoulder portions engaged with certain of the hangers It so that the upper portions of the garments lie Vertically within the compartment 8 while the lower portions are carried outwardly beneath a strap or follower 33 and draped over the main and auxiliary sections of the folding devices' The strap or follower 33 serves to hold the upper portions of the garment toward the back of the compartment 8 in addition to providing a creasing member around which the lower portions of the garments are folded upwardly when the folding device is swung to the position shown in Fig. 5.

As shown more particularly in Fig. 3, the garment 39, which is assumed to be an average length dress, is carried under the folding bar 28 of the auxiliary section of the folding device and then over the folding bar 24 of the main section so that the free end of the garment hangs down as indicated at 3041. The garment 3|, which is assumed to be of exceptional length, is passed under the folding bar 28 and over the folding bar 29 of the auxiliary section of the folding device, so that its free end hangs down as indicated at am. The side arms 2'! of the auxiliary section of the folding device are then swung from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4 with the result that the longer garment 3| is twice folded upon itself as clearly indicated at 31b and 3 I0 in Fig. 2. The side arms 23 of the main section of the folding device are then swung to the position shown in Fig. 5 so that the lower portions of the garments which are draped over the folding device are thus folded upwardly about the follower 33 and disposed entirely within the I compartment 8. The sectional folding device is then secured in the position shown in Fig. 5 by means of the curtain 36 (see Figs. 1, 5 and 6). This curtain is permanently fastened at its upper edge to the top wall H of the compartment 8 and is provided, at its lower edge, with fastening straps 31 carrying socket members 38 adapted to be en gaged with ball members 39 which are secured to the body section 5 of the case as shown to advantage in Fig. 4.

When it is desired to remove garments from the case the garment folding device is swung outwardly from the compartment 8 and the sections thereof arranged as in Fig. 3 so that the lower portions of the garments may be conveniently disengaged with the sections of the folding device. The garments may then be withdrawn from the case by removing the hangers 14 to which they are attached. As shown in Fig. I, the suspension member 15 of each hanger is provided with ahoolr lGa by means of which the hanger may be suspended from. a rod or other supporting member when removed from the carrying case. The hook lGa is formed as an integral right-angular extension of the stem portion 16 of the suspension member so that it may be readily swung to an upright position about the pivot l6.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A wardrobe carrying case of the character described including a wardrobe compartment, a garment hanger mounted in the upper portion of said compartment, means adjacent the lower portion of the compartment about which the lower portion of a garment suspended from said hanger may be folded to extend outwardly from the bottom portion of said compartment, an articulated garment folding frame comprising main and auxiliary sections over which the outwardly extended lower portion of the garment is draped for folding purposes, the main section of said frame comprising side members having their inner ends pivotally mounted within the lower portion of said compartment so that said main section is swingable from a substantially vertical garment folding position within the compartment to a substantially horizontal garment receiving position in which the major portion of said frame is located outside of said compartment, said side members of the main frame being connected by a plurality of cross bars including a cross bar connecting the outer ends of said side members and a further U- shaped cross bar extending downwardly from and connecting said side members at a point intermediate the first mentioned cross bar and the pivoted ends of the side members, said auxiliary frame comprising side members having their inner ends pivoted adjacent the inner sides of the side members of the main frame to a rod extending between the main frame members and in such a position to cause the frame to swing about an axis parallel with the axis of the intermediate cross bar of the main frame, said side members of the auxiliary frame being connected at their outer ends by a cross bar and being of such length as to lie on the outer cross bar of the main frame when the auxiliary frame is in opened position and to lie on the intermediate cross bar of the main frame when in closed position.

ELDON D. HALLMAN. 

